Depressible surface for folding tables



E. N. NECKEL DEPRESSIBLE SURFACE FOR FOLDING TABLES Jan. 17, 1961 Filed June 30, 1958 1N V EN TOR. EDMUND N. NEC/(EL ,ff/7M, @amg :M

A T TORNEYS United States Patent O 2,968,429 DEPREssmLE YSURFACE non FOLDING TABLES Edmund N. Neckel, North College Hill, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to McGraw-Edison Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed June 30, 1958, Ser. No. 745,613

7 Claims. (Cl. 22S-,67)

The invention relates to folding means for laundered articles, and particularly for articles of non-uniform thickness, or having, in the folded or unfolded condition, portions of irregular thickness. The invention will be described with particular reference to the folding of a garment provided with a collar, and wherein the collar need not be of the dress-shirt type.

The various kinds of folding tables--manuaL semiautomatic or full automatic-have ordinarily employed collar blocks, or holders, of the stand-up type. These comprise arcuate bands or segments adapted, by suitable mechanism, to be expanded within the neckband and position the collar substantially in perpendicular or stand-up relation to the shirt body. More recently there has been a trend toward semi-laydown blocks and even full laydown. Both of these use expansible blocks of suitable shape within the neckband, giving the desired conformation but without complete flattening. These various block devices are usually positioned in a well below the table top.

The above types of collar holders are the ones best suited for dress shirts, as providing a well-formed collar from the standpoint of appearance and comfort-a good proportion of dress shirts being starched. There is another class of shirts, however, which is not governed by these considerations and may be folded with the collar in flattened condition. This class includes work shirts, various special shirts handled by the linen supply organizations, army shirts, etc. They constitute a considerable proportion, in some cases practically all, of the shirt work in certain laundries. For these situations it is desirable to have a holder designed for such work, eliminating the more expensive collar block.

In the folding of spo-rt shirts the attened collar has been the usual practice. These make up a fairly large proportion of the shirt work in commercial laundries handling general family work. Folding tables are available having a plain at surface rather than a collar well and block. Also, some tables are fitted with a hinged plate which can be swung down to cover the collar block well.

These designs are suitable for -their purpose, but do not satisfy the requirements for the industrial type shirts. The latter usually are made of thicker material and are bulkier than dress shirts. This is especially so as regards the collar portion. With shirt folders of conventional design, the forming or folding plate is hinged to be swung down substantially parallel and closely adjacent -to the folding surface, on top of the shirt. The thickness of many work shirt collars would prevent the complete folding ldown of the folding plate if the collar rested on a ilush, solid surface, coplanar with the rest ofthe table top. The folding plate could, of course, be hinged somewhat higher, or a shallow depression could be provided in the table top to receive the collar portion. These expedients might take care of some shirts fairly well, but others would not be held'snugly nor the collar flattened.

object of the present invention is to provide, in a Patented Jan. 17, 1961 folding machine of the character described, a yieldable supporting area for a work piece having portions of nonuniform thickness. f

A further object of the invention is to provide yieldable supporting means as defined in the last preceding paragraph which cooperates with other folding machine parts in preventing displacement of the article during folding and also flattens the article for better appearance and easier packing.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a study of the following specification describing, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, one embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a fragmentary portion of a shirt folding table.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view taken similarly to Fig. `2 but showing the operating elements in a different operating position.

Figs. l and 2 show a at topped, folding table 12, supported on fixed frame members 13, 14 which are shown only in fragmentary detail since their structure will be well understood by those in the art. The table is cut away at 12a to receive the down turned collar 15a and adjacent portions of a shirt 15, said collar being yieldably supported on a yielding supporting plate 16. Plate 16 is swingable downwardly on a hinge 17 attached to the under side of table 12 in the neighborhood of a concavity 12b which serves as a tray for holding a supply of paper strips 18 having adhesive material on one end, the strips being of course used by the operator to bind the shirt in folded position at the completion of the folding operation. The hinge axis 17 is located at a convenient position to give a suitable `angle of movement to the supporting means when the latter moves down to the position shown in Fig. 3 as will appear.

The support plate is biased to upper position by a helical spring 19 threaded on fa bolt 20, and against a stop 20a, the free end of Ithe spring abutting a fixed frame member 21. The bolt 20 is pivotally attached, to the support plate 16 `at a clevis bracket 22. Any means biasing the supporting plate upwardly in the present instance would be effective to accomplish the purpose.

Plate 23 is the usual folding plate around which portions of a shirt, including sleeves, tails, etc., are folded. In actual practice its hinge axis 23a is closer to the plane of the folding table 12, but the spacing between the table 'and plate 23 is here exaggerated to allow a showing of the interposed fabric plies of the shirt.

When the plate 23 is swung from the position of Fig. 2 to that of Fig. 3 the plate will deprm the collar and its yieldable support plate 16 to the Fig. 3 position. Plate 23 is shown as provided with a clamp 24, pivoted at 24a and with an over center biasing spring 25. When plate 23 is swung down to working position as aforesaid, and parts of the shirt are folded over the plate, the clamp arm 24 m-ay be swung counterclockwise, dotted in Fig. 3, to hold these folded parts pending completion of final folding steps.

It will be obvious that the invention comprises a depressible support which cooperates with a superimposable member to accommodate at least a portion of a work piece therebetween, the invention being useful when the workpiece has portions of non-uniform width.

What is claimed is:

1. Folding means of the character described for the folding of articles of non-uniform thickness, said folding means comprising va garment folding table having a fixed yworking surface, a portion of said surface being cut receive thereon a thicker part of said article, and means for resiliently and continuously biasing said supporting member upwardly. towards. the.. planeof. said working surface.

2. Shirt folding means of the character.y described for the foldinggof/shirts of` non-uniform. thickness by reason of the extra thicknessin the neighborhood of thev collar, said .folding meanscomprising a. table havingV a xedupper lay-out.y surface,. and a lower surface, a part of saidv table being cutaway toprovide anfaperture, a supporting plate disposed below said `aperture and in registry therewith, andv adaptedlto receive` the collar. when the shirtis laid out on saidupper. surface, and meansfor resiliently biasing saidv supportingi plate upwardly in the directionv of the plane of said upper workingsurface,

3. Shirt folding means `as defined in claim 2 wherein said supportingrvplateis hingedly connected at; one end thereof to the lower face of said table, and wherein the other end of'saidsupporting plate is .provided with helical spring means biasing it upwardly in the direction of said working. surface..

4. Folding means. of. the character described for theA folding of articles of non-uniform thickness, said folding means comprising a garment. folding table having an up-. per plane surface for the folding of. a garment thereon, a portion of said table being resiliently depressible from its normal position at said. plane Surface and adapted to support a thicker portion of said article, and said table having movably connected thereto a member adapted to overlie said depressible portion but being vertically spaced therefrom when in garment-folded position whereby said thicker portion is maintained between said depressible portion and saidvoverlying member.

5. Holding means of the type defined in claim 4.and wherein means is provided for resiliently and contnuously biasing said depressible portion upwardly.

6. Folding means of the=type defined in claim'l comprising, in combination therewith, means disposedl above the cut away portionofsaid xedgworking. surface, and spaced vertically above said supportingrmember, whereby to be adapted to receivesaidv thicker part therebetween.

7. Shirt folding means of the type dened in claim 2 comprising, in combination therewith, a member spaced vertically above said supporting plate whereby the collar of said shirt isheld between said member and saidlsup portingl plate.

References Cited in the le of this. patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,269,354 Williams June 1l, 1918 2,369,607 Rieck Feb. 13, 1945 2,609,129 Goldberg Sept. 2, 1952 2,673,666 Silverman Mar. 30, 195.4` 2,853,215 Steele -v Sept, 23, 1,958 

